The Journey Around The World, In Order To Save Spring

A Brief Interlude

The middle-aged man sighed as he looked out his window. His window was really just a hole in his tupiq wall, but it served its purpose. His sigh was visible, materialising as an ephemeral white cloud. Every day the air got chillier and chillier. And every day Tukkuttok would worry for his son more and more. He remembered his first worry. It was literally just the day after his son had left. He was worried for his son because he just realised two things; One, his son was travelling alone. And two, he was sure his son did not had the slightest clue where Asiaq's temple would be.

He packed everything he would need into a makeshift bag and sneaked out of the encampment in much the same way his son did yesterday. And, just like his offspring, he was stopped at the edge. But it was the guards this time, as they hadn't clocked off yet. "Hey... Sipetti, Kika," he addressed the two guards. "Afternoon. Where're you off to?" Sipetti, the male, asked. "Oh, you know. Just going on a little hunt," he moved to go past them but was held back. "You are a kikattuk, Tukkuttok. You don't go hunting," the female, Kikajuittuk, stated. "Oh, right. Uh... well, today I felt energised and uh-" "No need for excuses. We know exactly why you want to leave. We don't actually care, but the alpha wants to see you," Sipetti said and released his hand from the man's chest. Tukkuttok gulped, said his ok and left for the alpha's tupiq.

"Hello? Alpha? You wanted to see me?" He said as he lifted the flaps of the hut and gingerly entered. "No need for such formalities, Tukk," Inuksuk said. "Please, have a seat," he gestured, "Make yourself at home." After seating himself, Tukkuttok immediately sought to explain himself. "I'll cut to the chase. I was going out to-" "It's okay," Inuksuk cut his old friend off. "It is?" He asked incredulously. Inuksuk smiled at that. "Of course it is. You were worried about your son's wellbeing. As an alpha, I relate to that," he said. He cared for his pack like this man cared for his son. It wasn't the same amount of care, of course, but still. "Although, I can't relate personally, having no child of my own."

It was partly true. The full truth was that he loved the trio just as much as if they were his own children. Taggak was his ward for his eighteen years of childhood, Amaruq was the boy who always got in trouble but his heart was in the right place and Atsuguk was his dear nephew. He probably wouldn't have cared for him as much if his father (Inuksuk's brother) hadn't died and his mother hadn't been diagnosed with dementia by the shaman.   He knew that the trio cared for each other too, which was exactly why he sent the two to aid Amaruq. "So... I can leave?" Inuksuk shook his head at the sound of the single father's voice.

"Oh, no. You don't have to," he answered." Hmm? Why?" The parent asked. "I've already asked Taggak and Atsuguk to accompany him on his journey. Taggak knows the whereabouts of the temple and will guide them. And three men are better than one at defending themselves," he explained. "You remember those two, don't you?" "Oh, of course I do. I took care of Taggak for ya when you were away, remember? And Atsuguk. How could I forget that sweet kid. He was the only one who would play with Amaruq when they were little," he reiterated his recognition of them.

Inuksuk thought about his relationship with the slightly younger male. They were pretty close friends. He remembered when he first joined the pack, 30 years ago. He was around Amaruq's age, then. He had left his old pack who lived at the North Pole and came here, requesting to join this pack. The council had begrudgingly allowed him to do so, as the first white wolf of the pack. However, that didn't mean anyone of the pack treated him kindly. Tukkuttok was the only one who was kind to him. The teenager always brought extra food and supplies to the Arctic wolf, and eventually would give him companionship when he needed it.

Once Tukkuttok, or Tukk, as he had grown to call him, had passed the ritual of adulthood, he didn't need to hide his helping the outsider from his parents anymore. He openly did it in front of any pack member who saw. And it might have been those acts of kindness that won him his wife's heart. For Inuksuk's efforts, he trained hard and hard and passed numerous challenges through sheer grit to finally earn the title of 'Pack Alpha' after many years. And Tukk had been by his side all those years, and even after. He had stayed alpha for decades now, and his position of power helped the pack grow and thrive. Even now, at a ripe old 48 years of age, he still made the best decisions for his pack.

He did also feel guilty for abandoning his old pack. They were the guardians of Rebirth Mountain. But nobody here knew that. Taking care of his sister-in-law helped make the guilt go away, though. He always visited her. And now that Atsuguk was gone, he was her main caretaker. She did not remember Inuksuk. Nor did she remember Atsuguk's age and looks. Always believing her child was a young boy instead of a buff but caring 16-year-old. Whenever he took care of her, she never knew it was him. How could he be? Her child was 8, not 16. But this man would always remind her of her son's accomplishments and they would always make her proud, even if she always would forget them the day after.

"Anyways, I guess I'll go back then. Since there's no more need for me to be here," Tukkuttok said, satisfied that his son was safe. Well, safe enough at least. Inuksuk was broken out of his reverie. "Wait. Could you stay for a cup of tea? I'm in need of some advice," the pack leader asked. Tukkuttok quirked his brows. "Sure, buddy. We can chat all you want."

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"Okay, make that three sacrifices," Amaruq said as he spied the sharp object in one of the tribal wolf's hand. The executioner. The shaman kept going on about his speech to the people and to Quetzalcoatl, Amaruq guessed. When he was done and everyone was silent, the trio became anxious. The executioner neared them, his machete glinting in the light of the setting Sun. "Well? What are you waiting for? Use your powers or something!" Taggak urged him. Oh, right! He could use his powers! Why didn't he think of that? "Amaruq Blaze!" He burned the rope off his body and proceeded to do the same to his friends.

The Teotihuacános around them looked shocked and apprehensive at his powers. He heard cries of witchcraft and magic. Not very accurate, but they didn't know that. "Let's get outta here," Taggak said. As the people at the top of the pyramid approached them, he transformed again. "Amaruq Cyclone!" He blew them away with a strong gust, "Cyclone Whirl!" He didn't want to hurt them. That wasn't his thing. Maybe it was Thunderstorm or Blaze's thing, but not Cyclone. "Now let's run," he told the others. And they did. They ran down the pyramid's steps. The clansmen around them were seemingly too afraid to stop them, saying things like, "It's him! It's Quetzalcoatl," among others.

Cyclone huffed. He didn't want them to think he was their Wind God. He was merely a Wind Elemental. And a leveled-up one at that. They heard the cries of the guards far behind them. "We gotta shake them off!" Taggak said. Cyclone looked around. They had almost reached the bottom of the steps of the more-than-100-foot-tall pyramid. He saw an opening at the side of the bottom of the structure. "Hey! This way!" He said as he led them to it. SS let the two enter first before covering the opening by pushing the heavy stone slab over the hole. Just before it closed, he saw the glint of the guards' weapons. They were made of black crystals.

Of course! They weren't crystals! Solar scanned the piece he had with him. It was made of a black ryolithic glass. That's what made them suitable as weapons! They were harder to shatter than gems, since they hadn't undergone crystallisation. With that in mind, he thought of a name for the newly discovered substance. Maybe he would name it after an explorer. As he joined the others in the dark and empty hallway, he admired the patterns intricately designed on the walls. The only reason they could see anything was because of the light coming from his fingers.

Of course, he wasn't going to do this forever so he looked for anything on the wall, any brick that didn't look untouched. When it was taking too long, he just scanned the walls with his visors which yielded him the result he was looking for. He pressed the brick and suddenly the torches in the hallway lit up. Such an interesting mechanism. Solar would have to replicate it someday. As he took note of his surroundings however, his face grew dim. "Why the long face?" Atsuguk asked him. "The  statues on the walls," he said pointing to heads of dragon-like creatures. "Those are representations of the Feathered Serpent God, and also of Tlaloc. That means that we're in the Temple of the Feathered Serpent," he clarified.

"And that means..?" Atsuguk egged him on. "No one has ever survived the booby-traps," he said. Sure enough, the two wolves noticed skeletons of previous travellers here and there. And this was just the first hallway.